Category: Eastern Church

New Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Gewargis III

This is old news for some, but it bears sharing here because it opens up the valued question of communio. The Assyrian Church of the East, of the ancient Christian churches, has good news in their attempt to revision their ministry in the 21st century. Christine Chaillot wrote the following piece trying to explain the complexities of this particular church. Let us pray for the Christians in Iraq, Catholic and Orthodox as they make their way in the face of the Islamist regime. The communion of churches and how we witness to Christ in the error of war and ideology is going to make or break Christianity.

Church of the East Patriarchal electionOn September 22, 2015, the journalist, John Burger [a New Haven, CT resident], entitled his article : «As Refugees Stream. Out of Middle East, One Exiled Church May Be Headed Back. Assyrian Church of the East elects a new leader, and they may be already building his home in war-weary Iraq.

The return of the Church of the East to Erbil to elect the new Catholicos-Patriarch is highly significant. In 1933 Mar Shimun XXIII Eshaia, the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East was obliged to leave Iraq and went into exile in the USA where the see was established in Chicago. When his successor, Mar Dinkha IV, passed away on March 26 2015 after an incumbency of almost forty years, elections were organised and the Holy Synod chose Mar Gewargis III who was enthroned at St. John’s Cathedral in Erbil on Sunday, Sept. 27 2015.  He had previously been Metropolitan of Iraq, Jordan and Russia. Born in Habbaniyah, Iraq and educated at the University of Baghdad, prior to his ordination as a deacon in 1980, Mar Giwargis taught English in several Iraqi schools. In 1981, he was elevated to Metropolitan of  Baghdad and all Iraq. His long experience of life and politics in Iraq, with its accompanying political upheaval and displacement will be invaluable in steering the Church of the East.

The consecration of Catholicos-Patriarch Gewargis III was attended by an international array of bishops from the Church of the East, who travelled from the USA, Canada, Australia, Iran, Syria and Sweden (where the bishop is responsible for all Europe) and of course India where the Church of the East was the first Christian presence since the beginning of Christianity, in Kerala (south west India). Also present were representatives of several Churches from Iraq  (among them the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Mar Louis Sako and bishops, the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Ephrem and bishops) and from abroad, including from the Vatican and from the World Council of Churches. Political personalities were also present, including a Chinese delegate, recalling the remarkable misssionary activity that the Church of the East conducted for almost a millennium across Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia reaching Mongolia and China. Today, the Church of the East has a new internationalism, but is firmly rooted in Mesopotamia.

Christianity has been present in Iraq since apostolic times; its founders were St Thomas of the Twelve Disciples and Ss. Addai (Thaddaeus) and Mari of the Seventy Apostles. The first location of the see of the Church of the East was in Seleucia-Ctesiphon, then the Persian capital, near present Baghdad. In the 9th century the patriarchate moved to Baghdad and then through various cities in what is now northern Iraq and also northwest Iran. In September 2015 the see was transfered from Chicago to Erbil, the present capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) administered region of northern Iraq, a move that returned to historic roots since Erbil, the capital of the kingdom of Adiabene, was a very early bishopric in the first centuries of the Christian era. Currently, a new patriarchal building (on a grand avenue and opposite a large, new mosque) is being built in Erbil, on land donated by the KRG authorities. At the time of the consecration of Mar Gewargis III, the construction had not yet been completed, but the extensive grounds should also accommodate auxiliary buildings, including a seminary and a print-shop.

As well as physical growth, there have been attempts to heal the schism between the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East that erupted in the mid 1960’s. The patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East, Mar Addai, has resided in Bagdad since 1964. Talks prior to the patriarchal election aimed at reconciliation. Although the reunification of the two factions has not yet been realised, further negotiation to this end will continue in the future. The patriarchal election heralds a new era for the Church of the East and all Christians in Iraq and the Middle East. As hundreds of thousands of people stream from war-torn areas of the Near East and Africa into Europe and elsewhere —and Christian leaders are desperately trying to keep their flocks in their ancestral homelands— the return of the Church of the East to  the KRG admininistered region of northern Iraq in order to have the see ‘back home’ and for the Catholicos-Patriarch to be close to his faithful and encourage them to stay in their traditional homeland is heroic and very Christian. The return of the Catholicos-Patriarch within their midst is celebrated with great joy by all the faithful of the Church of the East in Iraq and also by the diaspora communities.

Christianity without persecution? Armenian people were persecuted

Pope and Gregory XXThis morning in Rome the Holy Father offered Holy Mass with the recently-elected Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians, His Beatitude Gregory Peter XX Ghabroyan, as well as with the Bishops of Synod of the Apostolic Armenian Catholic Church and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri (Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches).

The new Patriarch has taken up the spiritual leadership in a time of Christian persecution and I am sure he’s not going to refrain from speaking out against the injustices and spilling of Christian blood. We need his voice, and that of all the Christian leaders to raise our awareness of these crimes.

In recent months more and more attention has been given by the Pope to the tragic events of the early 20th century that killed many of the Armenians and denied by members of the Turkish government. “Perhaps more than in the early days,” said Pope Francis, [Christians] are persecuted, killed, driven out, despoiled, only because they are Christians”:

“Dear brothers and sisters, there is no Christianity without persecution. Remember the last of the Beatitudes: when they bring you into the synagogues, and persecute you, revile you, this is the fate of a Christian. Today too, this happens before the whole world, with the complicit silence of many powerful leaders who could stop it. We are facing this Christian fate: go on the same path of Jesus. One of many great persecutions: that of the Armenian people”:

“The first nation to convert to Christianity: the first. They were persecuted just for being Christians,” he said. “The Armenian people were persecuted, chased away from their homeland, helpless, in the desert.” This story – he observed – began with Jesus: what people did, “to Jesus, has during the course of history been done to His body, which is the Church.”

Armenian Genocide memorial“Today, I would like, on this day of our first Eucharist, as brother Bishops, dear brother Bishops and Patriarch and all of you Armenian faithful and priests, to embrace you and remember this persecution that you have suffered, and to remember your holy ones, your many saints who died of hunger, in the cold, under torture, [cast] into the wilderness only for being Christians.”

The persecution of Christians happens in a profound way today. “We now, in the newspapers, hear the horror of what some terrorist groups do, who slit the throats of people just because [their victims] are Christians. We think of the Egyptian martyrs, recently, on the Libyan coast, who were slaughtered while pronouncing the name of Jesus.”

The Pope’s prayer was that the Lord might, “give us a full understanding, to know the Mystery of God who is in Christ,” and who, “carries the Cross, the Cross of persecution, the Cross of hatred, the Cross of that, which comes from the anger,” of persecutors – an anger that is stirred up by “the Father of Evil”:

“May the Lord, today, make us feel within the body of the Church, the love for our martyrs and also our vocation to martyrdom. We do not know what will happen here: we do not know. Only Let the Lord give us the grace, should this persecution happen here one day, of the courage and the witness that all Christian martyrs have shown, and especially the Christians of the Armenian people.”

Gregory of Narek’s brief narrative

NarekYou may recall that Pope Francis, in February 2015, declared as a Doctor of the Church the sainted Armenian monk and poet, Gregory of Narek (950-c. 1005). He is only one of 36 by the Roman Church.

Many wondered about the person of Gregory and his importance in the Church today. Being declared a Doctor of the Church is one of the most singular distinctions that the Supreme Pontiff could give to one of the saints, but way this monk and poet of the Armenian Church, and why now? Why is this gesture of Pope Francis a key event?

In Michael LaCivita’s article, “Cries from the Heart: Armenia’s Poet of the Soul” gives a fine introduction to this Doctor of the Church.

New Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia

Today, PoGregory XXpe Francis responded to the letter of the new Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia, His Beatitude, Grégoire Pierre XX Ghabroyan, requesting ecclesiastical communion with him, and See of Rome. With this letter of the Holy Father communion between the two churches is confirmed.

In history, the patriarch was known as Bishop Krikor Ghabroyan (emeritus bishop of the Eparchy of France having retired in 2013). As with the bishop of Rome, the new Patriarch has assumed a new name. A new name and office bears a new title: Grégoire will carry the title of “Catholicos-Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians” and the patriarchal headquarters is located in the convent of Bzommar and his residence in Beirut.

Pope Francis’ letter indicates his joy at the Patriarch’s election with the hope that his new ministry will bear many fruits for the Kingdom. One line worth noting: “illuminated by the light of faith in the risen Christ, our vision of the world is full of hope and mercy, because we are certain that the Cross of Jesus is the tree that gives life.”

His Beatitude Grégoire Pierre XX succeeds Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni who died on June 25, 2015.

The Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia has jurisdiction over 18 eparchies world-wide.

His Beatitude Grégoire Pierre was born on November 15, 1934 in Aleppo, Syria, ordained a priest March 28, 1959, and consecrated bishop 13 February 1977. At his next birthday the Catholicos will be 81.

Saint Sharbel Makhlouf

Today is the feast of Saint Sharbel Makhlouf, the great Lebanese Saint (1828-1898). He is the first Lebanese Ssaint to be canonized formally by the Church of Rome. Most of Sharable’s life was marked chaos in the world, in particular with the Ottoman empire. The war destroyed 40 Lebanese villages and killed over 22,000 Maronites in Lebanon and Cyprus.

The monastic life of Sharbel was that of being a hermit: a life of penance, prayer and supplication before the Lord. His reputation spoke of him as a Miracle Worker of the East. He is an apostle of peace.

Pope marks first genocide of 20th century

11053295_1580690902207358_5340926821941576174_oToday, Pope Francis delivered spoke the world in the presence of the President of Armenia, Serž Azati Sargsyan, Catholicos Karekin II, Catholicos Aram I, and the Catholic Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX, of the Great Evil of killing people, the first genocide of the 20th century.

Dear Armenian Brothers and Sisters,

A century has passed since that horrific massacre which was a true martyrdom of your people, in which many innocent people died as confessors and martyrs for the name of Christ (cf. John Paul II and Karekin II, Common Declaration, Etchmiadzin, 27 September 2001).  Even today, there is not an Armenian family untouched by the loss of loved ones due to that tragedy: it truly was “Metz Yeghern”, the “Great Evil”, as it is known by Armenians.  On this anniversary, I feel a great closeness to your people and I wish to unite myself spiritually to the prayers which rise up from your hearts, your families and your communities.

Today is a propitious occasion for us to pray together, as we proclaim Saint Gregory of Narek a Doctor of the Church.  I wish to express my deep gratitude for the presence here today of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, and His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX, Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenian Catholics.

Saint Gregory of Narek, a monk of the tenth century, knew how to express the sentiments of your people more than anyone.  He gave voice to the cry, which became a prayer, of a sinful and sorrowful humanity, oppressed by the anguish of its powerlessness, but illuminated by the splendour of God’s love and open to the hope of his salvific intervention, which is capable of transforming all things.  “Through his strength I wait with certain expectation believing with unwavering hope that… I shall be saved by the Lord’s mighty hand and… that I will see the Lord himself in his mercy and compassion and receive the legacy of heaven” (Saint Gregory of Narek, Book of Lamentations, XII).

Your Christian identity is indeed ancient, dating from the year 301, when Saint Gregory the Illuminator guided Armenia to conversion and baptism. You were the first among nations in the course of the centuries to embrace the Gospel of Christ.  That spiritual event indelibly marked the Armenian people, as well as its culture and history, in which martyrdom holds a preeminent place, as attested to symbolically by the sacrificial witness of Saint Vardan and his companions in the fifth century.

Your people, illuminated by Christ’s light and by his grace, have overcome many trials and sufferings, animated by the hope which comes from the Cross (cf. Rom 8:31-39). As Saint John Paul II said to you, “Your history of suffering and martyrdom is a precious pearl, of which the universal Church is proud.  Faith in Christ, man’s Redeemer, infused you with an admirable courage on your path, so often like that of the Cross, on which you have advanced with determination, intent on preserving your identity as a people and as believers” (Homily, 21 November 1987).

This faith also accompanied and sustained your people during the tragic experience one hundred years ago “in what is generally referred to as the first genocide of the twentieth century” (John Paul II and Karekin II, Common Declaration, Etchmiadzin, 27 September 2001).  Pope Benedict XV, who condemned the First World War as a “senseless slaughter” (AAS, IX [1917], 429), did everything in his power until the very end to stop it, continuing the efforts at mediation already begun by Pope Leo XIII when confronted with the “deadly events” of 1894-96.  For this reason, Pope Benedict XV wrote to Sultan Mehmed V, pleading that the many innocents be saved (cf. Letter of 10 September 1915) and, in the Secret Consistory of 6 December 1915, he declared with great dismay, “Miserrima Armenorum gens ad interitum prope ducitur” (AAS, VII [1915], 510).

It is the responsibility not only of the Armenian people and the universal Church to recall all that has taken place, but of the entire human family, so that the warnings from this tragedy will protect us from falling into a similar horror, which offends against God and human dignity. Today too, in fact, these conflicts at times degenerate into unjustifiable violence, stirred up by exploiting ethnic and religious differences.  All who are Heads of State and of International Organizations are called to oppose such crimes with a firm sense of duty, without ceding to ambiguity or compromise.

May this sorrowful anniversary become for all an occasion of humble and sincere reflection, and may every heart be open to forgiveness, which is the source of peace and renewed hope. Saint Gregory of Narek, an extraordinary interpreter of the human soul, offers words which are prophetic for us: “I willingly blame myself with myriad accounts of all the incurable sins, from our first forefather through the end of his generations in all eternity, I charge myself with all these voluntarily” (Book of Lamentations, LXXII).  How striking is his sense of universal solidarity!  How small we feel before the greatness of his invocations: “Remember, [Lord,]… those of the human race who are our enemies as well, and for their benefit accord them pardon and mercy… Do not destroy those who persecute me, but reform them, root out the vile ways of this world, and plant the good in me and them” (ibid., LXXXIII).

May God grant that the people of Armenia and Turkey take up again the path of reconciliation, and may peace also spring forth in Nagorno Karabakh. Despite conflicts and tensions, Armenians and Turks have lived long periods of peaceful coexistence in the past and, even in the midst of violence, they have experienced times of solidarity and mutual help.  Only in this way will new generations open themselves to a better future and will the sacrifice of so many become seeds of justice and peace.

For us Christians, may this be above all a time of deep prayer. Through the redemptive power of Christ’s sacrifice, may the blood which has been shed bring about the miracle of the full unity of his disciples.  In particular, may it strengthen the bonds of fraternal friendship which already unite the Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church. The witness of many defenceless brothers and sisters who sacrificed their lives for the faith unites the diverse confessions:  it is the ecumenism of blood, which led Saint John Paul II to celebrate all the martyrs of the twentieth century together during the Jubilee of 2000.  Our celebration today also is situated in this spiritual and ecclesial context.  Representatives of our two Churches are participating in this event to which many of our faithful throughout the world are united spiritually, in a sign which reflects on earth the perfect communion that exists between the blessed souls in heaven. With brotherly affection, I assure you of my closeness on the occasion of the canonization ceremony of the martyrs of the Armenian Apostolic Church, to be held this coming 23 April in the Cathedral of Etchmiadzin, and on the occasion of the commemorations to be held in Antelias in July.

I entrust these intentions to the Mother of God, in the words of Saint Gregory of Narek:

“O Most Pure of Virgins, first among the blessed,
Mother of the unshakeable edifice of the Church,
Mother of the immaculate Word of God,

(…)

Taking refuge beneath your boundless wings which grant us the protection of your intercession, we lift up our hands to you, and with unquestioned hope we believe that we are saved”.

(Panegyric of the Theotokos)

From the Vatican, 12 April 2015

A New Doctor of the Church: Saint Gregory of Narek

stgregoryThe Catholic Church has a new Doctor –an Armenian saint —Saint Gregory of Narek.

“St. Gregory of Narek is widely revered as one of the greatest figures of medieval Armenian religious thought and literature. Born in the city of Narek in about 950 A.D., St. Gregory came from a line of scholars and churchmen.”

Saint Gregory of Narek’s feast day in the Armenian Church is October 13.

On the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the Baptism of the Armenian people (2001) Saint John Paul said of Saint Gregory: “Among these illustrious figures, I would like to recall here Gregory of Narek, who probed the dark depths of human desperation and glimpsed the blazing light of grace that shines even there for believers.”

You will note that Saint Gregory, a monk in the Armenian Church, lived at a time when his Church was not formally in communion with Rome and Constantinople. Christian history can be complex to understand.

The Vatican Radio report is here.

The title of “Doctor of the Church” is bestowed on a saint because of his or her contribution to theology or doctrine. There are now 36 Doctors of the Church recognized by the Catholic Church, 4 of whom are women. The Eastern Churches may have a different list for their “Doctors of the Church.”